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Local Homeland Security special agents are preparing for the 2025 Super Bowl in New Orleans

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The 2025 Super Bowl is less than a year away, but for your safety, New Orleans city leaders and federal agencies are already planning. In February of next year, Homeland Security special agents from across the country will be here in town, focused on protecting the area around the Superdome and all of downtown. WDSU spoke with two local special agents here who say they’re preparing for just about anything. “With an undertaking as big as the Super Bowl, you can’t just wait until the last minute,” said Tonya Brown, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations. “No single agency can do this alone, so we all have to be on the same page.” It’s a year of planning to make sure everything goes smoothly from kickoff to the postgame celebration. “We’ve been working very closely with our other federal partners and the city of New Orleans, the city police department, who are trying to evolve our security plans for the Super Bowl,” said Eric DeLaune, assistant special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations. “The plan is to make sure that we provide a safe atmosphere for all the people who come here to have fun.” To do just that, the agency plans to bring in special agents from across the state and the country to combat certain crimes that come with major events, like investigating crimes related to child exploitation, drugs, money laundering, anything transnational and some that impact the local economy and local people. But it’s not just about violent crime, when a Super Bowl comes to town, sales of counterfeit goods also go up. “We’ll be working with the NFL,” Brown said. “We’ll also have some brands like Nike and Reebok. So we’ll all be out there together, visiting those vendors and looking at what they’re selling to find out if it’s real and if it’s not, and from where.” That’s where we decide what’s going to happen. Maybe if it’s a one-off item, it might just get seized, but if it’s something more ubiquitous, they might have to be prosecuted. Brown said some of these counterfeit goods have been linked to “A lot of these vendors don’t really know where the money ultimately goes,” Brown said. “They just think they bought it.” They sell it and make a profit. However, it has been found in the past that some of the people they buy the items from are actually using them to support terrorism. They may use them to support violent gangs. “The agency says they are confident the city will be ready and safe for the upcoming Super Bowl, which takes place on Sunday, February 9.

NEW ORLEANS –

The 2025 Super Bowl is less than a year away, but New Orleans city leaders and federal authorities are making plans now to keep you safe.

Come February of next year, Homeland Security special agents from across the country will be here in the city focused on protecting the area around the Superdome and throughout downtown.

WDSU spoke with two local special agents who say they are preparing for just about anything.

“In an undertaking as large as the Super Bowl, you can’t just wait until the last minute,” said Tonya Brown, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations. “No one agency can handle this alone, so we all have to pull together.”

It’s a year of planning to ensure everything goes smoothly from kick-off to the post-match celebration.

“We have been working very closely with our other federal partners and the city of New Orleans and city police trying to develop our security plans for the Super Bowl,” said Eric DeLaune, assistant special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations. “The plan is to ensure we provide a safe and secure atmosphere for all people who come here to enjoy it.”

To do just that, the agency plans to deploy special agents from across the state and country to combat specific crimes associated with large-scale events, such as: E.g., investigating crimes related to child exploitation, drugs, money laundering, etc. all transnational and some that impact local economies and local people.

But it’s not just violent crime, when a Super Bowl comes to town, sales of counterfeit goods also increase.

“We will work with the NFL,” Brown said. “We will also have some brands like Nike and Reebok. So we’re all going to go out together and visit these vendors and look at what they’re selling to find out if it’s real and if not and from where.” That’s where we decide what’s going to happen. If it’s an isolated incident it may simply be confiscated, but if it’s something more ubiquitous they may be prosecuted.

Brown said some of these counterfeit goods are linked to financing criminal activity.

“A lot of these dealers don’t really understand where the money ends up going,” Brown said. “They just think they bought it. They sell it and make a profit. However, in the past it has been found that some of the people they buy the items from are actually using them to support terrorism. They could be using them to support violent gangs use.”

The agency says it is confident the city will be ready and safe for the upcoming Super Bowl, which takes place on Sunday, February 9.

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